Week 1
- Monday – 60 minutes HIIT cycling (30 seconds 100% intensity, 1:30 60% intensity, repeat for an hour)
- Tuesday – 5 sets of 8: squats, barbell deadlifts, sumo squats, walking lunges, reverse lunges. 100 box jumps.
- Wednesday – 30 minutes HIIT jump rope (45 seconds jump, 30 seconds rest. repeat for half-hour)/15 minutes row machine
- Thursday – 5 sets of 8: bench press, military press, barbell curls, skull crushers, snatch, lat pulldowns. 250 ab reps ( you pick the type of exercises)
- Friday – 60 minute jog
Tips: Try to complete this Mon-Fri, allowing yourself a full two days off on the weekend. On weight days, make sure the weight is heavy enough that the 7th and 8th rep are VERY tough to complete. Training heavy at the beginning of this program is key for establishing your base.
Week 2:
- Monday – 5 sets of 8: deadlifts, bulgarian squats, lunges. 5 sets of 50: squat jumps, 50 calve raises. Plank for 3 minutes, 60 reverse crunches, 60 hanging knee raises.
- Tuesday – 60 minutes HIIT cycling (:30/1:30 format)
- Wednesday – 5 sets of 8: incline bench press, clean and press, overhead tricep extension, bent over barbell row, concentration curls, upright row.
- Thursday – 60 minutes HIIT running (sprint for 30 seconds/jog for 1:30 minutes)
- Friday – 5 sets of 8: deadlifts, bulgarian squats, lunges, 50 squat jumps, 50 calve raises, plank for 3 minutes, 60 reverse crunches, 60 hanging knee raises
Tips: For squat jumps, calve raises, planks, and any ab exercises, complete the number of reps/time in as few sets as possible. Continue to go heavy on the weight during resistance training.
Week 3:
- Monday – Super Sets: jump rope 45 seconds/12 box jumps/rest 1 minute. Repeat 20 times.
- Tuesday – 5 sets of 8: close grip lat pulldowns, single arm dumbbell rows, dumbbell bench press, dumbbell flys, incline dumbbell curls, standing barbell curls, lat pulldown burnout (100 reps on light weight).
- Wednesday – Super Sets: jump rope 45 seconds/12 box jumps/rest 1 minute. Repeat 20 times.
- Thursday – 100 body weight squats, 60 crunches, 100 alternating lunges, 60 bicycle crunches, 100 knee tucks, 100 flutter kicks, 3 minutes plank.
- Friday – 30 minutes HIIT cycling (:20/1:00 format), 30 minutes HIIT running (sprint every other .2 miles, i.e. 0-.2 jog, .2-.4 sprint, .4-.6 jog, .6-.8 sprint, .8-1 mile sprint)
Tips: Super sets involve no rest between exercises; only rest when indicated. Last week of heavy resistance, go hard and heavy. Make sure you’ve increased the weight on each exercise from Week 1, if only slightly.
Week 4
- Monday – 3 sets of 20: leg press machine, squats, deadlifts, calve raises, hamstring curl machine, box jumps
- Tuesday – 20 minutes HIIT cycling (:20/1 min), 20 minutes HIIT rowing (:20/1 min), 20 minutes HIIT jump rope (:30 jump/:30 rest)
- Wednesday – 3 sets of 20: lat pulldowns, bench press, incline bench press, tricep pushdown, concentration curls, upright rows, bicycle crunches, decline sit ups, hanging leg raises
- Thursday – 60 minutes casual jog
- Friday – 3 sets of 20: leg press machine, squats, deadlifts, calve raises, hamstring curl machine, box jumps
Tips: Use light weight on resistance training days. Do these exercises slow. Count to a full 4 seconds on the lift, and a full 2 seconds on the lower.
The above routine is part one, of a 12-week total body makeover. You should already be seeing results after only 4 weeks of training. As we previewed in week 4, part 2 focuses on increasing total time under tension (TUT) resistance training, which is a departure from the high sets/low rep heavy training that made up weeks 1-3. Cardio training begins to include more cross-training principles and explosive movements to really develop your lower body while maximizing fat loss at the same time. Part 3 will introduce complex lift formats such as step sets, drop sets, etc. while combining short, intense bouts of cardio to give you a couple more extreme workouts each week.
